This Light
by Oirarana
Summary: Hitsugaya Toshiro and Kurosaki Ichigo have been together for a long time, but there has always been a gap between them. Time however, will close that gap. Part of the 'Heavenly Guardian Collection', One shot, slash.


This story is written as an apology fic for all the readers of 'Upon the Wings of the Guardian'. I really am sorry, but I just can't find the motivation to write, particularly for Bleach at the moment.

I blame this entirely on the Captain Amagi arc that they popped in the midst of the Hueco Mundo arc, which I couldn't be bothered watching because it screamed filler.

Therefore, I decided I'd write this short IchixHitsu as a way of letting you know my current lack of motivation and to give you something.

Part of the Heavenly Guardian Collection, but it can be considered a stand alone piece.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Bleach, or anything at all recognizable as being from any popular series, I just wish I did.

**Warnings**: AU, Yaoi, Shounen ai, IchixHitsu, Character Death (Don't worry, its nothing graphic, or even very sad)…….I think that's it.

Dedicated to realdarkangel, if you're reading this, the yaoi fangirl puppy dog eyes got to me at last, and to HeukYa (I know that its different now) whose wonderful fic Empathy set me firmly on the IchixHitsu pairing, and every subsequent fic has only cemented it.

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The room was near silent, the only sound to be heard was the glide of brush against paper that was a standard fixture of the room. The source of the sound, the white-haired teal eyed Taicho of the 10th division, could also be considered a standard fixture of the room, considering the amount of time he spent in his current position, filling out the never ending stacks of paperwork.

The characters splayed before him began to lose meaning as the night wore on, the near tangible heat of the summer wearing him out. Even the slight breeze that wafted through the opened windows, almost as if in apology, did nothing to soothe his overheated body.

How he hated the summer, its heat was always overwhelming, slowing down all of his body. His paperwork was suddenly meaningless as the oil lamps which lit the office cast long shadows throughout the room.

The slight breeze seemed suddenly charged, as though electricity flowed through the physical presence of the heat, and moments later warm arms wrapped themselves around his chest, a rough voice whispering into the shell of his ear.

"You shouldn't still be here"

Hitsugaya calmly put down his brush and leaned back into the embrace, "You shouldn't be here at all," he retorted dryly even as he was picked up out of his seat.

He felt the other put him down shortly after he had been removed from his seat, knowing from experience that the white-haired taicho would only put up with so much before getting angry at him.

"Can you blame me? Someone has to make sure that you don't burn yourself out. Especially in this heat."

"Kurosaki!" Hitsugaya said sternly, even as he turned around in the taller male's embrace and wrapped his arms around Ichigo's lean waist.

"That hurts Toshiro," Ichigo said playfully, even as he held the other closely to him, savouring the contact.

He looked down into the teal eyes of his lover, marvelling at the bright colour and unchanging features. He smiled softly, at seventy three years of age; Kurosaki Ichigo looked exactly the same as he had when he first entered Soul Society, excepting, of course, the added wisdom that years of experience had placed within his gaze.

It was getting harder and harder for him to return to his body, the lack of change in his spirit form did nothing for the natural aging of his body. Even though he was a respected master, teaching kendo to the youths, and a beloved uncle to two generations of children, he was finding less and less reasons for returning to the material realm when his other half, the small and feisty Jubantai Taicho, waited for him on the other side.

"You have to go back" Hitsugaya said softly, even as his delicate hand toyed with the larger man's obi, slowly untying it.

"I am old there," Ichigo said, snorting in disgust, even as he felt the stirrings of other feelings begin, "Everything aches, and I can't move properly, I hate it"

Hitsugaya smiled sadly even as he pulled the orange haired man down for a brief kiss, pulling back only slightly to reply, "Even so, you need to go back, soon you won't be able to go back properly, and then you will regret it. Soon your home will be here, but for now, you have to enjoy your time on the material plane."

Ichigo shivered as Hitsugaya's lips brushed against his own as the other spoke. Choosing to ignore his lover's words he pressed their lips together once more, enjoying the familiar dance of teeth and lips and tongues.

Hitsugaya pulled back, wiping a delicate hand across his forehead to remove the sweat that had gathered there in the night's heat.

"It's too hot, ne Toshiro?" Ichigo asked, his warm brown eyes gleaming slightly.

"Aa," Hitsugaya replied warily, eyeing his larger lover from within his embrace, "What of it?"

"Well…" The younger man said mischievously, "maybe if we get you out of that shihaksho you'll be cooler"

"Kurosaki!" Hitsugaya stated warningly, even as his Captain's Haori was slid down his thin shoulders and fell to the floor, unnoticed.

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At Eighty Seven years of age Kurosaki Ichigo was still going strong…in spirit. The dull beep of the monitor was now a constant of his life, but now, it was drowned out by the whispers of people.

Ichigo's glazed eyes looked across his hospital room, the tube up his nose no longer uncomfortable as it had once been. Yuzu and Karin, old and wrinkled, mothers and grandmothers both, his nephews and nieces, and their children, who called him Grandpa Kurosaki, stood on one side of the room, their eyes showing various degrees of sadness.

On the other side his favourite students stood around him, one of them had his fifteen year old son with him. Ichigo had trained both father and son in the way of the sword since they were ten, thirty years since the elder had entered his dojo and asked to be taught.

His students were silent and respectful; they were here to see their master pass on in dignity.

Ichigo heard the gasps first, then the sound of his heart monitor flatlining. No nurses or doctors rushed in, they were on strict orders, 'do not resuscitate'.

He panicked for a moment, because for some reason he could not leave his body. Then he heard a noise, the sound of a koto playing, followed by the ringing noise of a Hell butterfly as a white light that few could see filled the room.

One of his great nephews turned to his mother, "Look Kaasan, look at the boy with the white hair!" but his mother did not hear him through her tears.

Ichigo could hear Karin's whisper as if she was shouting it, "Toshiro?"

Suddenly he felt a hand envelop his own and lift him up, and he was free, the aches, the near sightedness, all were gone and he was young again, the comforting weight of Zangetsu on his back once more.

He looked into bright teal eyes and smiled softly, turning to Karin he waved, and a smile formed on her tear streaked face.

"Grandpa Kurosaki?" A small voice questioned, and though the others in the room heard the boy's query, they were unaware of the significance.

Ichigo let go of his lover's hand and walked over to the small blacked haired boy, Karin's eldest grandchild. He kissed him on the forehead and leaned down until his lips were near the child's ear, "See ya kiddo, I'll be watching ok, so don't be too sad, we'll meet again ok?"

The boy nodded and sniffed his tears back as Ichigo stood and ruffled his hair.

The once more orange haired Shinigami turned back to his lover, and together they walked into the light.

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This one kinda got away from me, I hadn't really intended for it to go the way it did, but my stories always have a mind of their own.

As I said before, this is a 'I'm really sorry' fic, but, I may be getting motivated enough to try to continue 'Upon the Wings of the Guardian' soon.

Also, it may seem as though a chunk is missing from this fic…it is. There's a NC-17 section that I wrote but am not putting on FF dot net. At the moment I have nowhere else to put it, so if you want to read the smut, leave a review with your email address (use spaces otherwise the site will delete them), and a statement along the lines of "I understand that I am asking for material that is of an explicit nature, and I am fully accepting of the consequences of being given such material."

Standard disclaimer stuff really. I swear to you that if you leave your email address, I will only send one email, unless you state otherwise, and never share it to anyone.

Regardless, I hope you'll leave me a review and let me know what you think.

Ja Ne


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